Beach Reunions
by Raven-Rach
Summary: A different ending to MR3 at the reunion on the beach. Fang POV oneshot. "Here I am: on a sandy beach, bruised and battered, waiting for the rest of my family. It was Max that I needed to see, I yearned for her while I hoped that they would show up."


**This takes place at the end of MR3. As you know, long fics aren't something I have the time for anymore so oneshots like this are probably going to be the norm for a while (well, whenever I have time to write them lol!!) Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think! =]**

_Disclaimer- I own nothing but my laptop and my mountains of homework!_

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Here I am: on a sandy beach, bruised and battered, waiting for the rest of my family. Hoping more so than waiting- hoping that they would turn up. I suppose I wouldn't really blame them if they didn't; wouldn't really blame _her_ if _she_ didn't. Max, Max, Max. Please turn up, I prayed. Please, please, please. More than anything else in this world, I needed her to come back to me. I was ripped in half, I was wounded as a result of my pride, I was broken. It was painfully obvious now that I was not cut out for this job- I was not able for this life without Maximum Ride in it. She was as essential as the air I breathed. My Leader, My Friend and quite possibly My World. Not that I would ever say it out loud… but my mind owned up to it.

My memory cast back to my conversation with the girls via webcam. They had been in France- the City of Love, but I highly doubted that. It was Angel and Nudge that had made contact- no sight of Miss Maximum or Dog-Breath… And that fact alone scared the living daylights out of me. It was Max that I needed to see. She was the other part of me that I so desperately yearned for.

"Fang! It's so good to see you!" Angel had gushed, I very nearly smiled. Nearly, but not quite. Iggy and Gazzy greeted their long lost Flock-members with genuine joy. It was so clear that I had failed them, they needed the girls almost as much as I needed Max. Max and I had always said that our stubborn natures would go too far, and now we had all dealt with the repercussions. We had all been hurt and lonely.

"Where's Max?" I had asked. It was ridiculous that _that_ had been my first question, she was preying on my mind at all times. Her voice was haunting me, her face was playing over and over in some stupid slideshow inside my head. I needed to see her face with crazy desperation- I was worried, absolutely fanatical with anxiety for her safety. I felt like half of me was missing, and the whole leadership thing had become far too big a burden for my liking. All in all, I needed Max as soon as possible and I would even stoop so low as to apologise if it meant she would come back. Stubborn headstrong tendencies could be forgotten, I didn't care about anything else except her anymore. I was on the verge of letting Ari into our lives like Max had wanted. Basically I would have done anything. Anything at all if it meant I got her back.

"She's… not here." Angel supplied.

"What? Is she okay?! What happened?" Gazzy stepped in front of Iggy and I, his face filling most of the screen. I twitched an eyebrow in Nudge's direction. It was odd that she hadn't been speaking- it was wrong and strange. Maybe this had affected Max's group too.

"She's fine. I'll speak with you when we meet." Nudge said to me. It may very well have been the shortest sentence she had ever spoken in her life, I was gob smacked. She had seemed almost… Angry? Or seething, more like. What had happened? Maybe she didn't forgive me for leaving them to fend for themselves, but they had Max! They had the strong one, they had _her_! How on earth could they need me when they had her?! I regretfully told myself once more that I shouldn't have left. I knew at the time that it was the wrong decision, but rage is a terrible emotion that makes you act in impulsive ways. This wasn't the first time that I had regretted my actions- in fact, the regret and frustration had plagued most of my sleepless nights. This was the proof, this was the reason why I deserved to feel guilty.

We decided on a meeting place- a beach. Nudge remained stoic through the entire exchange and I had a horrible feeling deep, deep inside my stomach that something was terribly amiss. Had it been so awful for them that Nudge had changed so much? I should have been there… the thought burned through my insides like caustic acid. My mini, incomplete Flock trudged back to our motel room to wait- Iggy and Gazzy chatting excitedly all the way. It was the most alive they had seemed in days. Even the thought of seeing Max again had revived their drooping spirits… it had filled me with hope and joy. The only difference was that I didn't let it show.

So here I was, on the beach. Waiting, hoping and praying. If I had seen her face maybe I would have felt more at ease, but regret and worry churned around in the pit of my stomach as my eyes surveyed the expanse of sand and sea. Suddenly, three winged figures and a dog came into view. Relief washed over me sweetly and a crushing weight lifted from my shoulders for the first time in a ridiculously long time. The fact that Dog-Boy didn't appear might have had something to do with that.

Gazzy made the first move- charging towards the only mother figure he had ever known with a shriek of happiness. Max scooped him up in her arms and hugged him tightly, I could see her lips moving against his ear and whatever she said made him cling tighter as a tiny tear escaped and ran down his cheek. Iggy was occupied with talking to rest of the girls, then I noticed that Angel had been clinging to my midriff. She was crying as she hugged my waist tightly and I gently ruffled her hair.

"I missed you, Fang," she sobbed. The tears ran down her face as she smiled up at me.

"Me too," I whispered to her quietly as she smiled so exuberantly. Angel squeezed me one last time before backing away slowly and running to Iggy.

Suddenly I noticed Max standing in front of me. She was still, motionless, unmoving: the only movement was her blonde hair being softly blown by the breeze. Her jaw was set rigidly and her eyes were cold as steel. Nudge stepped up behind her- she seemed taller somehow, older and more mature. Nudge had lost that innocent look of a child and looked like an older version of the young girl I had left behind. She placed her hand on Max's shoulder, who still didn't so much as blink.

"Nice job with the Flyboys," she said. I was surprised that Max's voice was so calm and steady. It was cool, restrained and unemotional. "You did well looking after the others too, by the way."

"Thanks," I answered unsure of what to say. "Good going in Germany." Before I had the chance to say anything else, Max turned rapidly on her heel and absconded over to the others.

"What is her problem?" I muttered.

Nudge was still standing beside me, and her eyes flared. She stepped up to me somewhat threateningly. For an instant I felt as though I were the younger one being reprimanded.

"What's her problem?! You are such an idiot, Fang!" Nudge snapped. "You want to know what Max's problem is? Her problem is that you left! You left with half her family because she was brave enough to try to accept her brother- who ended up being a pretty good guy as it turned out!"

I could hardly bring myself to believe that. The Eraser hadn't a good bone in his body. He had tried to kill me, and Max, and our Flock. He could not and would not be trusted by me- no matter what Nudge or Max claimed.

"You left and she was broken," Nudge continued as her irises spat fire at me. "Max was miserable, Fang. She didn't know if she would ever get to see any of you again! She cried at night when she thought we were asleep! Yes Fang," she said noticing the almost imperceptible widening of my eyes. "The Invincible, Incredible, Strong Maximum Ride cried! Because she lost half her Flock, because she lost you, and because in the middle of a battle for her life her brother lost his in her arms! Ari died Fang while Max held him and wondered if you were already dead too."

I almost swore. I almost let my jaw drop. I almost showed her how I felt. Almost, but not quite. She hadn't given me a chance to anyway, Nudge was still ranting at me angrily and I couldn't blame her. I deserved anger, heck I deserved a lot worse then verbal anger.

"So, yeah, she has a problem: she's terrified that you are going to leave again and leave her twice as broken as she is now. But she won't tell you, because she's Max, because she is strong for everyone else and never shows weakness on the outside. That's Max, and we all know it. So while she's hurting on the inside, she will put on a nice, normal face to assure everyone else that she is perfectly fine. And I wouldn't be telling you one word of this Fang, except I think that you are the only one who can help."

With that final word, Nudge stalked away leaving me speechless. She didn't want to even look at me anymore, she was thoroughly disgusted with my stupidity. But she wasn't half as angry or disgusted with me as I was. Self-loathing was an understatement. Yet, Nudge was right- how I felt didn't matter, all that matter was reassuring Max and making Max feel better… and I was the only one who could do it. I was the source of the problem, and I would make myself be the solution too.

Max and Iggy were talking softly as I walked up. Max stopped talking, clearly waiting for me to leave before she continued. Iggy wisely left. Max scowled.

"What do you want Fang?" she asked wearily, as I stared intently at her.

I decided there was no way to do this other then to come right out and say it. Forget being stubborn, forget keeping it bottled up- just speak. Just use your voice and your words for once in your life. For her, do it for Max.

"I'm sorry, Max," I said honestly. "I'm sorry I left, I'm sorry that you had to go through this on your own, and I'm sorry that you were on your own… but mostly I'm sorry that I hurt you. I really am Max and I hate myself for it. But I swear that I will never- _never_- leave you again. That's all I can offer, I can't go back and change things no matter how much I wish I could, but you have my word: you will never have to go through anything like this again. You won't be alone, wherever you are I'll be there beside you. Second In Command, yours for the ordering. I'm sorry Max, I know it's not enough, but it's the truth."

"You really won't leave?" she asked hollowly, looking up beneath lowered lashes.

"I swear," I said. "I don't know how to make you believe me, Max, but I will never leave you again. I can't leave you. I'm not able to and I don't want to. I'm staying with you Max, I promise."

I was cut off by her arms flinging themselves around my neck. They latched onto me tightly and I hugged her back vehemently. "I missed you. I'm sorry too."

As she spoke I hugged her back again, I didn't want to ever let her go. "So sorry," she mumbled.

"Don't be," I whispered. "We're here now."

Over Max's shoulder, Nudge smiled at me, a familiar glint of her younger self coming through as she began to chatter animatedly to Gazzy. That's when I knew, right there with Max in my arms and our Flock reunited around us, that everything was going to be alright.

She stayed enveloped in my arms, and I wanted so desperately to kiss the cheek resting on my shoulder. But I didn't. I hadn't gained that kind of trust yet, but I would. I had convinced Max that I wouldn't leave, I could convince her of the rest later. For now, all that mattered was that we were back together. Nothing else mattered save that.

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End file.
